Hanger



Jam. 9,1968 F. SCHOEN ETAL 3,362,594

I HANGER I Filed Dec. 6, 1965 INVENTORS. FRED SCHOEN Y TONY M SAN FELICEATTORNEY YI'IA IIIIIIIIIJ Jan. 9, 1968 Filed Dec. 1965 F. SCHOEN ET ALHANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- if i INVENTORS. FRED SCHOEN TONYMSAN FELICEATTORNEY United States Patent Filed Dec. 6, 1965, Ser. No. 511,592 2Claims. (Cl. 223-95) This invention relates in general to clotheshangers and is more particularly directed to an adjustable type of pantshanging and stretching device.

The instant invention incorporates a pair of hollow, parallel supportsrespectively carrying depending cuff grippers to engage the cuffs of apair of boys or mens trousers. By imparting spring biased mobility toone of the grippers along the longitudinal axis of each support, aconvenient method of accommodating trouser cuffs of all sizes may berealized. In addition to simply hanging a pair of trousers, the instantinvention finds utility in the garment industry during the finishingprocess. The spring biased grippers engage the inside of the cuffs andstretch them as required for even curing during a permacrease process.

Prior art hangers as presently available are usually constructed of Wireor wood or combinations thereof. One well-known type grips the trousersexternally thereof near the cuffs to conveniently hang the garment froma pole or hook. However, such a device merely holds the trousers andoffers no method of stretching them as is sometimes required. Otherhangers are formed from bent wire and externally engage the trousersunder the cuffs. Such hangers serve a useful purpose but are severelylimited in utility in their inability to accommodate trousers of varyingcuif widths. Further, in accordance with style trends, many pants arepresently manufactured and finished completely without cuffs and in suchstyles, the bent wire type of hanger is completely useless.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novel hangerthat is suitable for use with trousers of varying cuff widths.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel hanger that issuitable for use with trousers of either the cuffed or cufiless styles.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel pants hangerincorporating means to automatically adjust the overall distance betweengrippers as required by the size trousers to be hung.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel pants hangerthat may be readily varied in overall length as required to accommodatetrousers of different cuff widths.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel pants hangerfeaturing both movable and immovable portions suitable for gripping apair of trousers near the cuffs thereof.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel pants hangerincorporating a pair of mobile, spring-biased grippers carryingextended, manually operated handles for ready operation with trousercuffs of varying widths.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel pants hangerthat is rugged in construction, inexpensive in manufacture and troublefree in operation.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will be had byreferring to the following description and claims of a preferredembodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingwherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view showing the hanger in hangingengagement with a pair of trousers.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front perspective view of a hanger constructed inaccordance with the instant invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view, partially broken away to expose theinterior construction, of a modified form of the instant invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 of FIG. 6.

Although specific terms are used in the following description for thesake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to theparticular structure of our invention selected for illustration in thedrawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of theinvention.

Referring now to the drawings, we show a pair of hollow, elongatedsupports 10, 12 rigidly held in spaced, parallel relationship by atransverse yoke 14. The yoke 14 may conveniently be fabricated from afiat steel bar and then secured as required to the tops of therespective supports 10, 12. A bent wire hanger 16 medially carries theyoke 14 and permits ready suspension of the entire assembly A from anysuitable rod, line or similar support by engagement with the bent uppersection.

As best seen in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, the supports 10, 12 are formed ofelongated, square tubing and each carries a stationary, depending cuffgripper 18, 20 at the respective closed end 22, 24 thereof. Thestationary grippers may be secured to the supports in any well-knownmanner such as by welding as at 26, 28. A pair of movable cuff grippers30, 32 depend from similar rectangular blocks 34, 36 which slide withinthe respective channels 38, 40 defined by the rectangular supports 10,12. Longitudinal slots 58, 52 medially divide the respective bottoms ofthe supports 10, 12 to receive the cuff grippers 30, 32 which dependtherethrough and thus permit longitudinal movement of the cuff grippersas hereinafter more fully set forth. The blocks 34, 36 are continuouslyurged away from the respective stationary cuff grippers .18, 20 by coilsprings 42 acting within the channels 38, 40. As shown in FIG. 3, thestationary end 46 of the spring 42 contacts the closed end 24 of thesupport 12 and the action end 44 contacts the block 36 and biases theblock and its attached cuff gripper 32 away from the stationary gripper20.

The utility of the construction may be readily observed by reference toFIG. 1 wherein a pair of trousers 48 are shown being supported at thecuffs by the hanger assembly A. It can be readily observed that theroughened outboard surfaces 54, 56, 58, 6% of the respective cuffgrippers 30, 18, 32, 26 contact the interior of the trouser cuffs andhang the trousers from this position. The springs 42 must be compressedas necessary to permit the movable cuif grippers 38, 32 to be adjustedto accommodate the width of the trouser cuffs. The bias of the springs42 urge the cuff grippers 30, 32 outwardly and thus assure securecontact between the hanging assembly A and the trousers 4 8. In thismanner, a sturdy hanging arrangement is provided with positive,spring-biased contact between the hanger and the trousers assured at alltimes. Even relatively heavy trousers may be so hung without danger ofthe trousers dropping free of the cuff gripper contact.

In FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, we show a modified type of hanger constructionutilizing a pair of spaced, rectangular or cylindrical tube supports 10,12 secured by a horizontal connecting yoke 14. A bent wire hanger 16 maybe swivelly secured to the yoke 14 intermediate its connection to thesupports 10, 12 to permit easy hanging of the assembly A either when inuse or when being stored for future use. The movable cuff grippers 3t 32depend from rectangular or cylindrical blocks 34, 36 and extenddownwardly through the bottom positioned slots 50, 52 which are providedto permit longitudinal movement of the cuff grippers 3f), 32 along thesupports 10, 12. A pair of finger pulls 62, 64 project upwardly from themovable blocks 34, 36 and are diametrically opposed to the cuff grippers30, 32. The finger pulls ride longitudinally along the supports 19, 12in the upper slots 66, 68 and provide easy operation of the grippers 30,32 simply by grasping the pulls 62, 64 and urging them longitudinallyagainst the bias of the compression springs 42.

In the instant modification, the stationary grippers 70, 72 depend fromthe support encircling clamps 74, 76 and have longitudinal adjustmentalong one half of the supports 16, 12. Set screws 78, 86 of thewell-known wing nut variety, permit easy adjustment of the position ofthe stationary grippers 70, 72 along the length of the supports asrequired to accommodate the width of the cuffs of the trousers beingprocessed. If desired, a plurality of position lines 82 may be scribedor otherwise marked on the top exterior of the supports to permit visualequal adjustment of the grippers 70, 7 2.

In order to use our invention, the stationary cuff grippers 13, 20should be interiorly engaged respectively with the cuffs of a pair oftrousers 48. The movable grippers 30, 32 may then be individually urgedtowards the stationary support ends 22, 24 against the bias of thesprings 42 until the distance between gripper surfaces 54, 56 and 58, 60is less than the width of the trouser cuffs. The grippers 39, 32 arethen inserted within the trouser cuffs and released, thereby permittingthe springs 42 to push the surfaces 54-, 56 and 58, 60 into a slip-proofengagement with the cuffs.

The above procedure may be similarly followed with the modified hangerof FIG. 5, with the exception that the finger pulls 62, 64 may moreconveniently be employed to move the grippers 30, 32 against the bias ofthe springs 42. Also, the set screws 78, 80 may be utilized to vary theinitial distance between the grippers 30, 70 and 32, 72 as required toaccommodate various sized cuffs.

Although we have described our invention with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has beenmade only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details ofconstruction and the combination and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas hereafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A hanger for supporting a pair of trousers by the cuffs thereof, thecombination of a pair of hollow, parallel, elongated horizontalsupports, a rigid yoke, said yoke being interconnected between the saidsupports and spacing the said supports in parallel arrangement, saidsupports each being provided with a bottom, longitudinal slot, and saidsupports each being provided with a top, longitudinal slot, said bottomand top slots each extending a substantial distance from and along thelength of one end of each support;

an adjustably fixed vertically elongated cuff gripper affixed about theother end of each of the said supports, means to fixedly position thesaid fixed cuff gripper in any of many alternative locations along thesaid support, said means including a set screw operatively turnedthrough the said gripper onto the said support securing the said gripperto the said support;

a movable cuff gripper slidably carried at said one end of each of saidsupports, said cuif grippers depending through the said bottom slots;

gripper operating means extending above said movable grippers, saidoperating means extending through the said top slots;

an operating spring in each of said elongated supports biasing each ofthe said movable cuff grippers away from the said fixed cuff grippers,and

a hanger hook member secured medially of said yoke.

2. A hanger as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said supports includesa plurality of markings on the top surface of said other end with eachmarking on one of said supports being in alignment With a respectivemarking on r the other of said supports to permit visual equaladjustment of said adjustably fixed cuff grippers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,272,164 7/ 1918 Williams 223-1,596,403 8/ 1926 Chidley 22388 2,017,761 10/1935 Leonard 223952,553,116 5/1951 Simons 223-95 2,594,602 4/ 1952 Walter 223-95 FOREIGNPATENTS 287,823 4/ 1953 Switzerland.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner.

1. A HANGER FOR SUPPORTING A PAIR OF TROUSERS BY THE CUFFS THEREOF, THECOMBINATION OF A PAIR OF HOLLOW, PARALLEL, ELONGATED HORIZONTALSUPPORTS, A RIGID YOKE, SAID YOKE BEING INTERCONNECTED BETWEEN THE SAIDSUPPORTS AND SPACING THE SAID SUPPORTS IN PARALLEL ARRANGEMENT, SAIDSUPPORTS EACH BEING PROVIDED WITH A BOTTOM, LONGITUDINAL SLOT, AND SAIDSUPPORTS EACH BEING PROVIDED WITH A TOP, LONGITUDINAL SLOT, SAID BOTTOMAND TOP SLOTS EACH EXTENDING A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE FROM AND ALONG THELENGTH OF ONE END OF EACH SUPPORT; AN ADJUSTABLY FIXED VERTICALLYELONGATED CUFF GRIPPER AFFIXED ABOUT THE OTHER END OF EACH OF THE SAIDSUPPORTS, MEANS TO FIXEDLY POSITION THE SAID FIXED CUFF GRIPPER IN ANYOF MANY ALTERNATIVE LOCATIONS ALONG THE SAID SUPPORT, SAID MEANSINCLUDING A SET SCREW OPERATIVELY TURNED THROUGH THE SAID GRIPPER ONTOTHE SAID SUPPORT SECURING THE SAID GRIPPER TO THE SAID SUPPORT; AMOVABLE CUFF GRIPPER SLIDABLY CARRIED AT SAID ONE END OF EACH OF SAIDSUPPORTS, SAID CUFF GRIPPERS DEPENDING THROUGH THE SAID BOTTOM SLOTS;GRIPPER OPERATING MEANS EXTENDING ABOVE SAID MOVABLE GRIPPER, SAIDOPERATING MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH THE SAID TOP SLOTS; AN OPERATINGSPRING IN EACH OF SAID ELONGATED SUPPORTS BIASING EACH OF SAID MOVABLECUFF GRIPPERS AWAY FROM THE SAID FIXED CUFF GRIPPERS, AND A HANGER HOOKMEMBER SECURED MEDIALLY OF SAID YOKE.